Speak truth, and "Be One With The Force." (A little Star Wars for your Saturday)

We're onto Chakra number 5 this week - Vishuddha - or throat Chakra. It is the location where our air enters the body, and get purified. This is where we draw air in, release air out, and tie in breathing practices like Ujjayi breathing, which I've been talking about in my classes - the one that sounds like you're trying to sound like Darth Vadar.

Physically, the nerves in this area are connecting our speaking and hearing centers. Taking that a step further beyond the physical, this is where our ability to express our unique and authentic selves lay. You may have heard the phrase "speak your truth," and this is where we realize this - its about
FINDING TRUTH THAT IS UNIQUE TO YOU
and is not bound by definitions of cultural and family conditioning. As Communication Central for the body and mind, it also governs
OUR ABILITY TO LISTEN AND AUTHENTICALLY HEAR OTHERS,
allowing for the basic human need of being heard.

As we've moved up the Chakras, we've gone through the elements (Earth to Water to Fire to Air) and we are now at Ether with Vishuddha - which in chemistry is an oxygen molecule mixed with 2 other alkyl or aryl molecules. This formula is only one molecule's change from water or alcohol. I like to use this practical thinking of something that is not quite water and not quite alcohol, but also realizes the previous four elements, and connects us to our own very life force: breath.


I also like to visualize the Hindu belief that this is the access point for both nectar - air coming in - and poison - air going out. They call this Amrita, and every breath IN is an opportunity to bring in new life, healing breath, soothing nectar, or **insert happy positive thought**. Every breath OUT is an opportunity to release old poisonous air (of which is very true, we know that exhales contain carbon dioxide, which our bodies make as waste), release tensions and expectations, or **insert thing that causes you pain and stress**.

It's gonna be a whoooooole lotta good heavy breathing this Sunday in class. Think of it like that exhilarating rush of fogging up the windows when you're a teenager... only less touching, and more self time. :)

Yoga with Calley at Yoga Garden Minneapolis:

Sundays @ 10:00am - Abbreviated Ashtanga (great for beginners!)

Your Heart is Waiting

Well, kids - we're technically only half way there on this Chakra series, but in terms of my motivation for the series...

We've ARRIVED! Your HEART is waiting!

I started thinking about all this as the Holidays came sneaking upon us back in November, and it started because the Holidays are all about giving and receiving love. So I thought it appropriate to mention our heart center, where we conceptualize love...

But before there is access to this central point of our nervous system (literally, this is where your spinal cord connects with all the nerves around your heart and thoracic region), in yogic thinking and approach to the body, we start with the ground / root / bottom and work our way up. The chakras all line up with different energetic points along the spinal chord. So three weeks ago we had Muladhara the root chakra at the base of the spine, governing the basic survival functions. Two weeks ago was Svadhisthana the sacral chakra in the abdomen governing the reproductive organs and pleasure. Last week was the Manipura solar plexus chakra located on the soft spot of our bellies above the naval and below the breastbone, governing our digestion and sense of self and personal power.

And so we've gone from our primal selves... to our ability to reproduce.... to our basic sense of "self" as intelligent creatures. And now we come to our power and ability to love. To give love and receive love. The heart Chakra Anahata.

As I have said more than once, I believe this is where we start to to designate ourselves from our friends and relatives the animals.

We have the ability to feel compassion, and love, and empathy. 

We can give and receive love as long as our previous three chakras are being well taken care of. Being able to give and receive love freely is a tricky thing, because it requires that we are taking care of ourselves enough to have enough reserve to give away. Love is not wearing a white dress, or getting a gift, or even spending time, if that is all done without being willing to freely give our love away with no expectation. This is our privilege as humans. It is not what we are owed. It is what we are lucky enough to experience.

Sooooooo, get ready to open up some FEELINGS on the mat this morning ya'll. I can't wait :)

Yoga with Calley at Yoga Garden Minneapolis:

Sundays @ 10:00am - Abbreviated Ashtanga (great for beginners!)

Who the hell are you?

No really think about that - and make sure you're reading that question like this: Who the hell are you? (Instead of how we usually think of it "Who the hell are you?")


Why do I ask this? --- think about the two contexts of those same five words: in one instance, it is a question directed outward, and in the other, it is a question directed inward.

We've all heard the term "giving away your power." Well, in the sense of Chakras (which is the kick I'm on for this holiday season) the third chakra - which is located at the soft spot between your belly button and your solar plexus, and is called the MANIPURA - is our sense of self. Our sense of self-worth. Our sense of power. It means "city of gems," which seems entirely random, unless you dig a little deeper (which I always love to do). It is our own individual "city of gems;" a place of resource and power.

Where last week's sacral chakra svadisthana (the lower abdomen, where the base of the spine connects to the hip bones), is about pleasure and enjoyment, and the first chakra muladhara was about our primal selves (survival, or fear, if that survival is compromised), the manipura goes a bit further. Our sense of self is awakened, and along with it, an ability to choose - to use willpower, and be proactive, instead of reactive or inactive.

Sooooooo, realistically, there's no way to realize and actualize everything that the chakras represent in one week's time. But, like I allllllways say, hang on to what works for you, be willing to learn a bit at a time, and as my Minneapolis yogi hero Laurel Van Matre would say,

ITS ABOUT SHOWING UP.

Hope to see many of you on Sunday :)

Yoga with Calley at Yoga Garden Minneapolis:

Sundays @ 10:00am - Abbreviated Ashtanga (great for beginners!)

Bandhas, breath, chakras, sex organs?

I've always kind of enjoyed being that friend / relative / person who says the thing that you're not supposed to say because its sooooo unCOUTH. But see, that's the thing with yoga - its supposed to be about dealing with real feelings, emotions, physical characteristics, etc. no matter what they are. Its good to unbutton every once and a while in life. (Hey, if we can adopt "It's 5:00 somewhere," we can use the word procreation when talking about yoga - especially around the holidays when its getting nice and cold outside... and everyone is warm inside... yeah you get it.)

So on that note, this Sunday in class (12/7/2014), we'll briefly talk about the second chakra - SVADHISTHANA, or the LOWER ABDOMINAL / SACRAL CHAKRA - which means "dwelling place of the self," and is directly governed by - you guessed it - the sex organs. It's also about emotions, sociablity, and movement.
Why talk about this? Welll...

READ LAST WEEK'S POST

Yoga with Calley at Yoga Garden Minneapolis:

Sundays @ 10:00am - Abbreviated Ashtanga (great for beginners!)